Chuck wrote:
So far I am happy with my purchase. Remember that I bought this mount initially just to mount my PST, to emulate Kurt's terrific PST tracking setup. The night-time use is a bonus.
http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=mounts_and_tripods/~pc... All the credit goes to Bill Cowles. The TeleTrek low-end mount ($300) is a second-generation and consumer-refined version of the older GT114 mount that I use. Like the GT114, the TeleTrek's weight limit is 9lbs - so no adding a heavy DSLR to your light APO scope. I assume main gears inside, like the later GT114s, are metal, not plastic. Refinements in the Teletrek mount include: (1) An integral bubble mount; (2) Comes with the right-angle bracket; (3) Has an auxillary port in the base; (4) No autoguiding port or software support for autoguiding. Since the TeleTrek uses the same controller at the GT114, it may suffer with a minor software bug that I found in the GT114. When you slew the GT114 in altitude across the 90 degree mark (to let's say 120 degrees), the software appears to suffer a divide by zero error and the mount starts flopping around. Customer comments on the Orion website note that it is a low tripod mount. The eyepiece is at a level where you have to use an observing chair. One commentor describes that to get the eyepiece to a more comfortable "adult height" that he - "To fix this I bought an adapter to convert the 3/8th inch thread to a 20-1/4" thread that I bought from EBAY. I then put it on my paragon tripod." Clear Skies - Kurt P.S. - Quiescent sun at 11am through the PST-Ha and PST-K.